DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4752#0052
42 TURKISH VILLAGE LIFE IN ASIA MINOR
impeachable authority, it is clear how much is gained
from the absence of the young men in most cases.
The requirements of military service take many
away. Others are sent by their family to some of
the great cities, where a little money can be earned
by serving as porters or in some other humble em-
ployment : at home, of course, there is no possible
way by which a halfpenny could be earned by the
utmost industry, for nobody wants any work done,
and nobody posesses any money to pay for work, if
he wanted it.
Coined money, even in the smallest quantities,
simply does not exist in villages. At first I could
not realise it in spite of warnings, and was disposed
at times to think that the villagers were trying to
extort a dollar on the plea of having no change.
But that idea cannot last in the face of what occurs;
for example, you find a man ready to walk beside
your party an hour's journey in order to get the
change (to his own disadvantage) at a market
town where a shop exists. There are no shops,
no circulation of money, no possibility of exchang-
ing the fruits of labour for pleasures, or luxuries,
or any variety from the simplest and barest neces-
sities of life. This may seem an idyllic style of
life to some social theorists ; but I should be glad
to make them travel continuously for three years
among Turkish villages, so that they may realise
impeachable authority, it is clear how much is gained
from the absence of the young men in most cases.
The requirements of military service take many
away. Others are sent by their family to some of
the great cities, where a little money can be earned
by serving as porters or in some other humble em-
ployment : at home, of course, there is no possible
way by which a halfpenny could be earned by the
utmost industry, for nobody wants any work done,
and nobody posesses any money to pay for work, if
he wanted it.
Coined money, even in the smallest quantities,
simply does not exist in villages. At first I could
not realise it in spite of warnings, and was disposed
at times to think that the villagers were trying to
extort a dollar on the plea of having no change.
But that idea cannot last in the face of what occurs;
for example, you find a man ready to walk beside
your party an hour's journey in order to get the
change (to his own disadvantage) at a market
town where a shop exists. There are no shops,
no circulation of money, no possibility of exchang-
ing the fruits of labour for pleasures, or luxuries,
or any variety from the simplest and barest neces-
sities of life. This may seem an idyllic style of
life to some social theorists ; but I should be glad
to make them travel continuously for three years
among Turkish villages, so that they may realise